Folding couch and the like



Oct. 20, 1925.

F. L. H. SIMS FOLDING COUCH AND THE LIKE '2 Sheets-Sheet 2 HHIHHHII In a lllll m n 1 g 1| M7) & *7 b x HIHHHHII jar- -5,

INVENTDB Patented Oct. 20, 1925.

"I REbEItiCK sins; ee s'obmifnitfi ztdfij 'ronniiveconen ime LIKE.

To all whom z'zf'mag concern: Be it known that I, FREDERICK L.H-. SIMS, of Southampton, in the county of BrucTe, Province of Ontario, Canada, a subject of the King of Great Britain; have invented certain new I and useful. Improvements in Folding Couches and the like, of which the following is a'specific'ation. I ,7

This il'i-vention relates to a couch particu larlly adapted to serve esa housing for "a foldingbed, and my object is to devise a couch of this type in. which, i though the folding bed for which it forms a housing fits close up to the under sideof the jconch seat, the latter 1naybegivei1 an adequate depth oi'spring and yet have its "upper surface noghigher than is usual ordesirab-l'e; to; provide convenient means to get the seat and arms outofthe Way when thedeviceiis used as a housing fora folding bed especially when it is desired to useflthejbed-i'n a position partly between the sides ofj tfhe housing; and to so arrangethe arms that they maybe supported in the usual upright position, set do'Wnfto forinlateralextensions of theseat or held in an clin'ed position. i a, a I attain my object byineansiofthe, conintermedi'ate in- ,str'u'ctions hereinafter described and i'll'ustrated in the accompanying drawings in which i f Fig. lis. a'front viewofthej bed housing constructed in accordance With inveln ti In; parts being broken away to expose the ee-ustruet ony i Fig. plan 'view of the same partly broken away;

3 a verticalicross section onfthje line3-3 in Fig. 2 looking towards? the left hand side; t V I .l

Fig. e ;a horizontali sectional; detail f the interlocking parts of the fall board and lntlill frame; a

Fig 5 a vertical sectional detail, of the said lock; 7 a a I, Fig. 6 a horizontal sectional detail illustrating the method of locking the movable c uc r sito' rb ekien Fig. ,7 a detail illustrating, in front elevation, difi'erentpositions of one of the sofa arms. y e

Iirtl' e drawings like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the i fe entifig r ea i the h usingeempt eeeu The remeef ably formed ends 1 and a back 2 rigidly con- Application iire'd July "24, 1922. 'sii ai N0; 5 773261.

.y.i:,...l IL il li i .He el e w t t e nde byi e ne of the b ets 724, and suitably shaped to support the spring padding andupholstervfl as indica d .i v o line in Eig- 3-,; e; t i t med; fee i e e pe tei ren w ble-m nd; e i the r fie.i here ;f,. whieh iy e" QV6 1 and provided witlfsp i g s i thezp'rdi na-ry m n 'nend which .ieied pte e eupp li m eb e. emflisetehiie 5" re. vis.-e me .t i the (rt a-nd a-lsothe front board 10 as hereef et t eeeribede The. befl ep t t e .ee e e pn rt d t n th et d; i reeket fit Whie se re t Lend. ex d; vfe we ly. fremith f m e he beeleee bri ete ere errewin prop rtion te h ir dept ,1end-:.t11 tet re,..enebl th ov ble e t e, here nafte re rred tftjtelf ectp e 'e tetheLendeQf; seat e A eee fend theze etif "me; is P v de t PlIQlFQ PH etlep ed ,-s1id .91 h edieee lereek 't Th r e en l eee b eek t iei e ei t he 1 sl g ideerw f ,it it ee se ue, t e. p rp se 1 vhi h riee will fhe ine tei. eppeiet i.-.Tl e le rie t eei 0 2 the, :bmcketfe whi h; h

; ptej eeti ni sl s. .it vil e e ed; i ein line upiwe s if end; teri erd yeel hetthe ei e l t n ee teilit elg'h ln nulled ierwetdtrei ,itl ee Wheniit ce, fina ly ewuegqte eebetee tle ly e i tipe t eei te;th niunde ei is well clear of the upper surtape of{thefn ati reee e 1 bedd e 9t ti i ifet tli ibed which -y' befeen e i ed Wit i the? housing- I A 1A. shou er .85; ts. .rfeime l'ien' tweet rs ed; f; eeeh .b 'eek t, end; r e ete l m th lextent to which theseat frame can be pulled 1171swer tieee j h teethnt "iefetprdfside of ee gx 'ee 1 n, eeh e d n o: Wli eh t diete P 2 s en es in eted P l tieu rly n g; 5 fee h ewihe. W e th pins 12am so engaged the front boardds he d, eeelyain Po ition: eeeine he del, and is held from lateral novenient relative th ete ,bv-gthe eneegem tget te e ti e .r be ,.1 et he etp tete dee Q the; ron part of the end. As the front board is hinged to the seat, the latter and the movable arms carried thereby, as hereinafter described, are securely held from all horizontal movement by the construction just described. WVhen the'seat and front board are to be lifted up out of the way, the front board is lifted sufficiently to disengage the pins 12, the seat can then be drawn forward till the projections 7 contact with the shoulder 8. The projections and shoulders then form temporary journals and bearings and the seat may be turned up to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, the front board falling naturally to a position in which it hangs close against the formerly underside of the seat.

The movable arms 11 are supported in the following manner. These arms are formed on a suitable wooden framework, and are upholstered in a suitable manner, the outline only being shown in the drawings. Each sofa arm is formed with adjacent sides 15 and 16 substantially at right angles to one another. It will be noted that the thickness of the arm is such that when it lies with the side 15 resting horizontally on top of the adjacent end 1, the opposite side is substantially level with the upper surfaces of the cushions 5 of the seat. The position of the ends of the seat relative to the ends 1 of the frame is always such that when the arm is resting thereon with the side 16 in contact therewith, the side 15 of the arm is approximately flush with the r outer side of the end and the opposite side of the arm close up to the end of the adjacent cushion 5' of the seat. The resultis that when the arms'are vertical the device presents as attractive an appearance as any ordinary sofa, while, when one or both arms are turned down, they form in effect extensions of the seat.

To enable the arms to beheld in either position described, and also to enable them to be held, when desired, in the intermediate diagonal position shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 7, I provide special hinges or linksarranged in the manner I will now describe. A hinge member 17, preferably of considerable length as is seenparticularly in Fig. 2, is provided with a hinge pin 18, which is journalled in eyes 19 secured to the side of the seat frame close to its lower edge. The other side of the hinge member 18 is provided with a hinge pin 20, whichis pivoted in bearing members 21 secured to the side 16 of the adjacent movable arm, the bearing being located approximately near the middle of the side. The positions of the eyes 19 and the bearings 21 is planned to enable the sofa arm to occupy the positions hereinbefore described and illustrated. The hinge member 17 being formed of thin sheet metal occupies very little room, and its presence is in no wise noticeable whether the sofa arm be horizontal or vertical. Sometimes it is convenient. to have the arm occupy an inter mediate inclined position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 7. The hinge member 17 will take most of the strain when the arm is in this position, provided the arm is locked in some way. For this purpose I secure to the rear of each arm a plate 22 having holes formed therein. When the arm is in the inclined position shown the hole 24 is brought into alinement with the sliding bolt 25 carried by the back in its inclined position. When the arm is in the upright position the hole 23 is in alinement with the bolt, and, by sliding forward the bolt, the arm may be locked in its upright position. As the housing is always spaced somewhat from the wall due to the projection of the skirting board there is always suflicient room for the operation of this bolt. This bolt is not seen except when in the withdrawn position.

This housing is particularly adapted to contain the folding bed action which is shown and described in my co-pending ap plication No. 577,262 filed July 24th, 1922. An important requirement of a housing for this purpose is that there should be as much height as possible provided in the housing for the frame of the folding-bed action, while, when the device is used as a sofa, it is equally as important that there shall be ample depth of seat to provide for the usual spring foundation in the seat, and for special spring cushions on top of the seat, without exceeding the usual height of the top of the finished seat from the floor.

From an inspection of Fig. 1, it will be seen that the seat is considerably shorter than the width of the fixed frame and the bottom of the seat frame may therefore be dropped below the level of the tops of the ends, thus giving the seat ample depth without interference with the mattress foundation of the action, while sufficient extra height is provided within the housing adjacent the ends to provide the extra height demanded to receive the sides of the frame of the action which, in the folded action, ex-

tend above the level of said mattress foundation.

The gaps between the sides of the seat frame and the ends 1 are at all times closed lgy the arms in whatever position they may It is evident that in addition to serving as a suitable housing for a folding bed, the device itself may be used as a sofa or as a couch or as a divan with both arms in a horizontal position, the arms being posi- 'tioned according to the requirements of the user.

It will be noted that, when the seat is drawn forward as a preliminary to turning it to the upright position, the projections 7 lift up out of the depressions, and the arms 1% which have previously been turned down to the horizontal position are at once lifted clear of the frame ends 1 so that the upholstery on the sides 15 is not injured by rubbing on the upper sides of the ends.

What I claim as my invention is The combination of a sofa having a fixed end member and a seat; a movable sofa arm adapted to lie With one side either abutting the end of the seat or resting on the fixed end member; a hinge pivotally connected With the sofa adjacent the seat and pivotally connected with the said side of the movable arm midway between its inner and outer edges, whereby said edges travel in planes substantially at right angles to one another as the said end is swung on the hinge.

Signed at Southampton Ontario, this 12th day of July, 1922.

FREDERICK L. H. SIMS. 

